BBC Blows It Again

You have to hand it to whoever is responsible for dictating lines to take for the BBC’s news output: hardly have worried punters once again defended the Corporation from another attack from those adjacent to chief Downing Street polecat Dominic Cummings than they put their foot in it again, clumsily spinning items to deflect from the Government’s inept handling of the Coronavirus pandemic. So it was once more yesterday.

After alleged Prime Minister Alexander Boris de Pfeffel Johnson had claimed during PMQs that “I don’t think that international comparisons and the data is yet there to draw all the conclusions that we want … There will be a time to look at what decisions we took and whether we could have taken different decisions” - meaning we shouldn’t make international comparisons on Covid-19 death rates - off went the Beeb.

“Italy death toll tops 30,000, highest in EU … Italy has become the first country in the European Union to register more than 30,000 coronavirus-related deaths. It reported 243 new fatalities on Friday - down from 274 the day before - taking the total to 30,201. The daily number of confirmed new cases fell slightly to 1,327, bringing the total number of infections to 217,185” told the report. And there was more.

“Italy has the third highest number of officially recorded coronavirus deaths in the world, after the United States and the UK - which is no longer a member of the EU”. Oh, hello? International comparisons are good when it means we can “look over there” at Italy, but then again, not relevant to us because we’re no longer in the EU.

How very convenient for anyone in Lord Hall-Hall’s empire wanting to score a few brownie points with Bozo The Clown and Polecat Dom. How different from just four days ago when the BBC was telling “UK death toll passes Italy to be highest in Europe”.

That article, more realistically, went on “The UK now has the highest number of coronavirus deaths in Europe, according to the latest government figures. There have been 29,427 deaths recorded across the UK - a figure Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab said was ‘a massive tragedy’. The latest total for Italy, previously the highest in Europe, now stands at 29,315”. Worse, the death numbers continue to be bad for the UK.

While the Friday figure for Italy was 243 deaths, for the UK is was more than double that number - 626. The cumulative total, at 31,241, was 1,000 more than for Italy. And we’re supposed to be around a fortnight behind them - so there is worse to come.

Comment was almost universally adverse, with Ian Fraser pointing out “Strange way of framing it. Italy having the most Covid-19 deaths in the EU is hardly news. Italy has consistently had the highest Covid-19 death toll in the EU since early March, as the BBC News has repeatedly reported”. SNP MSP James Dornan was on the same page. “Almost as many as UK, the highest in Europe. What a disgraceful spin”.

Others piled in. “You're supposed to aim for impartiality, not serve as Pravda for the Tory party … when the UK whizzed past 30, 000 deaths to become the Coronavirus capital of Europe the BBC pushed the government line that comparisons weren't valid … You do yourselves no favours sucking up to Tory propaganda!”. Not a good look, BBC people.

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